- The Rhodesian Ridgeback is a large, muscular dog originally bred in South Africa to hunt lions. It is also known as the African Lion Hound.
- The peculiarity of the Ridgeback breed is the ridge of hair which grows forward on his back.
- In 1922, a group of Rhodesian breeders set up a standard for Ridgebacks which has remained virtually unchanged ever since.
- The Rhodesian Ridgeback was admitted to registry by the AKC in 1955.
- The breed was created by the Hottentots, a native race of South Africa, and the early Dutch, German, and Huguenot settlers who emigrated there.
- Not surprisingly, the lack of a defining ridge on the back is unacceptable in the Ridgeback breed.
They combined Danes, Mastiffs, Greyhounds, Bloodhounds, Terriers, and other breeds with the half-wild Hottentot hunting breed to create the Ridgeback.


